43.2

The Morgestraich on Monday morning marks the beginning of the Carnival in Basel. At exactly 4 am all the lights in the old town of Basel are turned off, and the "Industrielle Werke Basel" (the public utility organisation of the city) shuts down the streetlights. The only light remaining comes from the lanterns of the Cliques. There are two major types of lanterns, the large Zugslaterne (parade lanterns) that are wheel-mounted or carried by 2 to 4 people in front of the Cliques; and the head-mounted Kopflaterne (head lanterns) that every participant wears. Some Cliques have uniform Kopflaterne as traditionally on Morgestraich, nobody wears uniform costumes.
With the command "Morgestraich, vorwärts marsch!" ("Morgestraich, forward march!") from the drum majors, all Cliques begin to march and play their instruments. no tripod, no flashlight, 27.02.2012 time 3.36 am